1979 Davis Cup

1979 Davis Cup
Details
DurationAugust 1978 – 16 December 1979
Edition68th
Teams49
Champion
Winning nation United States
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The 1979 Davis Cup was the 68th edition of the Davis Cup, the most important tournament between national teams in men's tennis. 52 teams would enter the competition, 29 in the Europe Zone, 13 in the Americas Zone, and 10 in the Eastern Zone.

Following years of protests from various national sides, South Africa were expelled from the Davis Cup for failing to abandon its apartheid policies. For many years the Davis Cup organisers had been reluctant to let political issues affect the competition, however following several years of defaults by national teams and threats of a boycott, the organisers of the tournament were forced to resolve the political disagreements by expelling the South African side.[1] Canada, Mexico, Venezuela and the Caribbean/West Indies teams had all pulled out of the 1978 tournament, and in 1977 the United States, Great Britain and France had all withdrawn in protest to the continued politicisation of the Cup before eventually re-entering following concessions.[2][3] South Africa would not be allowed to participate again in the Davis Cup until 1992, when significant progress had been made to bring about the end of apartheid.

The United States defeated Argentina in the Americas Inter-Zonal final, Australia defeated New Zealand in the Eastern Zone final, and Italy and Czechoslovakia were the winners of the two Europe Zones, defeating Great Britain and Sweden respectively.

In the Inter-Zonal Zone, the United States defeated Australia and Italy defeated Czechoslovakia in the semifinals. The United States then defeated Italy in the final to win their 26th title overall and their second consecutive title. The final was held at the Civic Auditorium in San Francisco, United States on 14–16 December.[4][5]

  1. ^ "South Africa Expelled from Cup Play". Toledo Blade. Associated Press. 17 April 1978. Retrieved 27 October 2019.
  2. ^ "Canada heads pullout from 1978 Davis Cup". Montreal Gazette. Reuters. 4 July 1977. Retrieved 26 October 2019.
  3. ^ "U.S. Withdraws from Davis Cup". Deseret News. Associated Press. 1 July 1976. Retrieved 27 October 2019.
  4. ^ Bud Collins (2010). The Bud Collins History of Tennis (2nd ed.). [New York]: New Chapter Press. pp. 495–496, 499. ISBN 978-0942257700.
  5. ^ Cite error: The named reference Final was invoked but never defined (see the help page).